Home Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF
PLA after 20th Party Congress: “Combat Readiness to Fight and Win Wars’’
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF

The much awaited Chinese 20th National Party Congress (NPC) is behind us, and the National Peoples’ Congress is about four months away. The Work Report by President Xi Jinping has been analysed ad infintum. President Xi Jinping has said that China�

November 15, 2022 International Relations and Diplomacy, China, Article, CPC, Taiwan, CMC, PLA, LAC, Gen He Weidong, Integrated Theatres
Political Control on Use of Combat Power
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF

Russia-Ukraine War 2022 is emphasizing on a time-worn question: what is the balance between political control and military operational expertise in deciding military strategy? Consequent to the attack on Kerch Bridge, Russia struck with high-precisio

October 28, 2022 International Relations and Diplomacy, Article, Ukraine, Infrastructure, Military Strategy, Kerch Bridge, missile attack, political control
Ukraine-Russia War: Lessons for Future of War
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF

Debates about the future of war are as old as war itself. Currently, it is normal to reflect on future wars by highlighting the over-arching importance of artificial intelligence, space, quantum computing, block-chain technologies, robotics, and the

October 11, 2022 International Relations and Diplomacy, Defence, Article, India, Russia, Air Force, Artillery, Missiles, Ukraine, ISR, MANPADS, close air support, HIMARS, precision munitions, rockets
The Russia-Ukraine War 2022: A Point of No Return?
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF

On 24 February 2022, President Vladimir Putin announced ‘special military operation,’ the beginning of land, sea, and air offensive against Ukraine. The Western Pundits had forecast that the war under the onslaught of Russian famed military and t

September 28, 2022 International Relations and Diplomacy, Russia, Article, Russia, Nuclear, Referendum, Ukraine, EU, Donetsk, Luhansk, Donbas
पूर्वी लद्दाख में विघटन और इसके बड़े प्रभावों पर विचार
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF

8 सितंबर 2022 को पूर्वी लद्दाख के चुशुल-मोल्दो में चीन-भारत कोर कमांडर स्तर की 16वें दौर की बैठक के 50 द

September 19, 2022 International Relations and Diplomacy, China, Hindi, Article, चीन, एलएसी, लद्दाख, पूर्वी लद्दाख, गलवान नदी, राकी नाला, शिनजियांग, पीएलएएएफ
Next Step in Disengagement in Eastern Ladakh and Contemplating Larger Implications
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF

On 8th September 2022, 50 days after the 16th Round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting at Chushul-Moldo in Eastern Ladakh, consensus was reached on disengagement of the Chinese and Indian troops in the area of Jianan La (Daban) also designa

September 13, 2022 National Security and Strategic Studies, Article, PLA, logistics, LAC, Ladakh, Infrastructure, PP15
China’s transition from Hiding to Showing its Strength! India’s Determined March to Developed Nation – 2047
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF

It is said that Mandarin is a nuanced language, where multiple meanings can be drawn and where even the tone in which it is spoken can completely change the meaning. What Deng Xiaoping said in 1989-90 has had many versions, the commonest being, ‘h

August 22, 2022 International Relations and Diplomacy, China, Article, India, Taiwan, CCP, PLA, Rejuvenation, China Dream, nuclear arsenal, periphery
Modern Warfare and Structural Transformation
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF

Prime Minister Narender Modi in a valedictory address at the Combined Commanders Conference at Kevadia, Gujarat on 05 March 2021 stressed upon the armed forces to shed the legacy systems and practices that had outlived their utility and relevance. Th

July 26, 2022 National Security and Strategic Studies, Defence, Article, doctrine, Future Force, Integration, Jointness, theaterisation
नव-सेना में बदलाव को सुधारना
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF

सेना में सुधार का मतलब है उसकी प्रकृति और रूप में स्पष्ट बदलाव लाना-जो अमूमन उसकी बेहतरी के लिए �

June 22, 2022 National Security and Strategic Studies, Defence, Hindi, Article, सेना, एआइएसी, रिक्रूटेबल मेल पॉपुलेशन (आरएमपी), रेजिमेंट्स
Transforming-transformation into neo-Army
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF

The essence of transformation in the military is to create a marked change in its character or form – mostly for the better, and moving away from the legacy systems. Normally this transforming transformation perspective is relevant to ‘how we wil

May 31, 2022 National Security and Strategic Studies, Defence, Commentary, Army, AIAC, Recruitable Male Population (RMP), regiments
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